Cake - 'Showroom of Compassion' album review

I've never been a fan of Cake. I don't really get what it is that is clever about their music. Its all very shallow and repetitive.  So when I saw that they had a new album coming out I thought it would be a good one to make fun of. To my surprise its not that bad and at times actually quite good. Has Cake redeemed themselves with this addition to their arsenal of albums?

Not too long ago Cake debuted a song on Conan and I wasn't too impressed with the performance. I felt like the performance felt stilted and awkward. The one thing that I came away with is that the song they performed 'Sick of You' actually sounded decent. While it might be my least favorite song on the album, that assessment still stands. The songs on 'Showroom of Compassion' have uniqueness that Cake has lacked on pass efforts. Normally all the songs are very bass heavy with the vocals being the center of the music. I think that the band figured out that vocals while very important to the overall experience of the listener, sometimes playing good music is better. The songs actually sound like songs for the most part and you can tell that the band cares about more than just a cool sounding vocalist. What it boils down to is the music is rarely exciting. It feels boring and slow, lazy for the lack of a better word. This album changed that, not completely but enough to make 'Showroom of Compassion' stand out from the others.

The album starts with 'Federal Funding'  which is a very "Cake like" song. The song builds upon itself and doesn't stick to the normal formula. It isn't until after 'Federal Funding' where the real gems start revealing themselves. The song 'What's Now is Now' actually has singing in it. Shocking I know. Its not too bad either, for Cake standards. It also contains melodies that make it truly interesting. 'Mustache Man' is a more funky song, with a driving bass beat and the typical up tempo trumpet section. The vocals on this song are also quite different than the norm. They are preformed interestingly, and with depth.

Not everything is good album the album though. It is still cake, and you still get the sense than this douche is trying to get a point across or be witty which doesn't work in the slightest. Songs do tend to feel as if they repeat too much at times. The chief offender of this would have to be 'Federal Funding'. I guess the repeating is just a part of the style of the music, but it doesn't excuse such an annoying and music padding tactic.

You could listen to much worse this year and I'm sure the Cake fans will love 'Showroom of Compassion'. It explores new ground but also manages to keep the Cake feel. They were unable to fix some of the problems from past releases but the good out weigh the bad and the album is pleasant to listen to.

'Showroom of Compassion' gets 3 Cake's out of 5



Track Listing
"Federal Funding" - 3:50
"Long Time" - 4:36
"Got to Move" - 3:40
"What's Now is Now" - 3:37
"Mustache Man (Wasted)" - 4:04
"Teenage Pregnancy" - 2:41
"Sick of You" - 3:18
"Easy to Crash" - 4:08
"Bound Away" - 3:25
"The Winter" - 4:06
"Italian Guy" - 3:11